Finding your Balance through Self Care

I fondly remember the days when my kids were young children. The true gift that children give you is the opportunity to experience life again through eyes of wonder and innocence. We used to spend countless hours just watching ants, waving at fire trucks, and literally stopping to smell the roses. These are precious moments that will stay with me forever, and I am so grateful to have had those special years.

My son and daughter are young adults now and well on their way down their own life path. I now find myself with spare time! What is this, a young mother may ask?

I think it is so important for parents of young children to squeeze out some time for self care. It is difficult to keep on giving when you haven’t replenished your own cup. Looking back, I wish I had taken more time to take care for my own mental and emotional health. I did go to the gym several times a week for some pretty intense workouts, but I never took the time for calm, quiet reflection. Life was go, go, go.

In the last year or so, I have been working on my yoga and meditation practice. This practice has truly brought me clarity, calm, and peace. I wish that I had discovered meditation sooner and introduced my children to it. I think children can benefit greatly by learning meditation. School can be loud, busy and overwhelming and kids often react to it to by misbehaving. Rather than punishment, kids could learn to take some time out to be alone and quietly find their inner balance. It is a tool for all of us to help manage anxiety and the pressures of everyday life.

It doesn’t have to cost any money to bring meditation into your life and your children’s lives. Free podcasts are helpful: you may want to try a short guided meditation to keep you on track. There are also podcasts for children available. The ability to manage your thoughts and emotions better is a great gift for the whole family. Give it a try!

Written by Sandra Maniago, Founder/Designer of Loko Sport

 

Sandra Maniago
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Life, growth and Yoga

Just over a year ago, I started my 200-hour yoga teacher training. I signed up after I took a look at the life I wanted to lead, and realized I needed a shift.


I am Type A by nature (and I think the family members involved would agree that there’s some nurture involved). I am driven. When there’s a job to be done, I would aim to do it to perfection, and thought of time as merely a construct. When I started running, I quickly started going longer and was at the marathon distance within a few years. When I started triathlon, it was to do an Ironman 70.3 and then, a few years later, Ironman. It should have come as no surprise, then, that I have burned myself out on more than one occasion.


Yoga helped me to find balance in my “fitness” life, as I came back to it after I was exhausted from my first Ironman. I knew that there was something to how I had grown through yoga, and toyed with yoga teacher training for a while. When I was presented with some options to change my role at work, I really thought about what I wanted out of life, and realized I needed a different balance between work and everything else.


As I went through the process of training, I took a hard look at myself and why I felt the need to work so hard. I realized that my perfectionism came out of a fear of not being good enough… or just enough, for that matter. I found a different relationship with my own personal boundaries in a safe setting with a group of women I adore, and I was introduced to Sandra and Loko Sport as I was on that journey.


I was proud to have ethical clothing from a local creator and a woman who has created her own business and an inclusive niche within the broader fitness apparel industry. Truthfully, I felt better on the days that I could show up to training in clothing that reflected my own values of empowering women, buying locally and ethically, and ensuring that yoga is safe, accessible, and joyful for everyone.


Coming out of yoga teacher training, I realized how valuable the experience had been for my personal growth. I had thought I might build a career as a yoga teacher, and that may still happen someday, but the process actually made me realize that there was space to bring what I had learned in my off-the-mat practice to my day job. I teach at my own office, the London Roundhouse, one day/week. More importantly, I bring what I have learned about myself to my role as COO, and I lead our team with love. Yoga teacher training helped me to find a different flow between work and life, such that I truly bring my whole self to my work, and have the opportunity to infuse yoga into my work-life in a way that fits. Incidentally, Loko Sport is part of that very journey, as I can so easily pair the fitness apparel with my work clothing for easy transitions from the mat to my desk.

Rachel Berdan

 

Sandra Maniago
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